The present invention is directed to devices for fabricating container structures, and most particularly, a novel flower pot cover. Synthetic flower pot covers have gained great popularity in the horticulture industry. These covers wrap around or cover plastic and ceramic flower pots. Flower pot covers provide ornamental beauty, serve to retain the moisture of the plants and flowers with which they are utilized, and prevent leakage from flower and plant pots.
Previous methods of fabricating flower pot covers have utilized single unslit sheet forms which are molded into rigid or self-supporting structures by means of heat or the creation of pleats or folds. U.S. Pat. No. 4,733,182 discloses a container forming system in which the container is formed by the creation of a plurality of overlapping folds in a single sheet of material. The mechanism disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,733,182 is complex and requires expensive fabrication apparatus.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,795,601 discloses a container forming system in which the walls of a flower pot cover are stamped from a thin sheet of metallize polyvinylchloride utilizing a heated male and/or female member. This technique of container construction similarly has several disadvantages. First, it requires the use of male and/or female members heated to between 80 and 120 degrees centigrade. Further, this technique is comparatively slow and frequently results in the formation of brittle containers which tear during removal from the mold. Different substrate materials require different levels of heat during fabrication. Determining and controlling the correct levels of heat for a given substrate can be problematic. Unintended variances in the applied heat of the matable members can result in the destruction of the cover.
In addition, the formed container structures disclosed in both patents must be physically removed from a molding member, thus adding fabrication steps and increased production time.
The present invention is directed to a novel container structure which improves over prior art devices and which can more easily be fabricated in the single downward stroke of a pnuematically or hydraulically controlled forming piston or mandrel. The mandrel of the present invention utilizes air blowers which rapidly expel the formed container into a bin or recepticle. Further, rather than utilizing matable male and female heated molds or a system of folds or pleats to fabricate a container from an uncut or unslit form, the present invention utilizes a specially cut or slit form which can quickly be constructed and formed into a container such as a flower pot cover, and sealed by sealing mechanisms such as ultrasonic weld heads.
The container or flower pot cover of the present invention can be constructed from any paper-like material such as PVC, wax paper, polyester, polyethelene, cellulose actate butyrate, polystyrene, etc. The present invention can further be constructed from metallic substrate materials such as copper, gold, and silver foil. Polyester and other plastics are particularly desirable materials from which to fabricate the container or cover because they can be fused using microwave, ultrasonic bonding or plastic welding.
The present invention further incorporates a novel apparatus and method which ca be utilized to form the container of the present invention. A particular feature of the present invention is inclusion of a special die, pnueumatically controlled mandrel, and ultrasonic weld heads which facilitate the welding of the container of the present invention.
It is therefore a principal object of the present invention to provide a container which is constructed using a cutting die which creates a novel slit structure which can be rapidly formed and fabricated into a container such as a flower pot cover.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a flower pot cover which is constructed utilizing a slit form which folds into a flower pot cover upon being stamped by a pneumatic or hydraulically controlled mandrel or piston.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a mechanism for forming a container structure such as a flower pot cover which utilizes a mandrel, with air blower mechanism, which rapidly forms and then blows the formed container into a storage bin or recepticle.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a novel container and flower pot cover which can be rapidly fabricated by the single stroke of a forming mandrel or piston.
It is still yet a further object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for forming a container structure such as a flower pot cover which can be rapidly sealed by ultrasonic weld heads. These and other benefits of the present invention will become apparent from the summary and detailed description which follows.